Liberalism is liberal. It is an emancipation philosophy, and a joyous celebration of the creative energy of diverse people near and far. The liberal order is about a framework of rules that cultivates that creativity and encourages the mutually beneficial interaction with others of great social distance – overcoming such issues as language, ethnicity, race, religion, and geography.--Boettke
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The chess scandal: A report, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, alleges that Niemann likely received illegal assistance in more than 100 online games, as recently as 2020. Those matches included contests in which prize money was on the line.
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The left likes to present religious liberty as a bigotry loophole for intolerant white Christians, so it’s worth highlighting another case that’s an ideological scrambler: Last month a federal appeals court ruled that a male Muslim prisoner in Wisconsin can have an exemption from strip searches involving a transgender guard who is biologically female.
“The moral tenets of his faith” prohibit him “from exposing his body to a woman who is not his wife,” writes Judge Diane Sykes of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. When the inmate objected to a 2016 strip search, the warden responded that the transgender guard “is a male and is qualified to complete these duties.” Prison officials threatened discipline if the inmate raised more complaints. (WSJ)
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According to the U.S. government, some of the left-wing groups are being funded by Russian influence operations to “sow discord, spread pro-Russian propaganda, and interfere in elections within the United States.”
On July 29, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the indictment of a Russian national for working on behalf of the Russian government to sow discord in the United States.
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Gerrymandering the Hierarchy
Some young women threw tomato soup on Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" in protest of the production of oil. They are members of Just Stop Oil, which wants the British government to halt new oil and gas projects. The two protesters also glued themselves to the gallery wall. The exact relationship between the painting and oil production is unclear. Perhaps they objected to it being an oil painting. Every little bit of symbolism helps. They certainly think that art is at least superfluous to the world's problems.
That is to say, they see a hierarchy in the world.
In a time of increasing unruliness, the assumption of a hierarchy in our thinking is probably good news. But a hierarchy in energy raises some serious questions. Because shortages imply allocation differences. Since everyone is admitting hierarchies, how will those shortages be resolved? What will the method of distribution be through the 'hierarchies?'
Planned energy contraction implies some agreement, a general and widespread self-sacrifice. Shutting down the world's energy will create circumstances considerably deeper and more serious that can be born by a stiff upper lip. Without energy, production will decline. Living standards will decline. Economies will implode. Agricultural and industrial production will be reduced, sometimes to nothing. People will die. Some cultures will suffer disproportionately. Some will be unhappy with their allocation and the suffering they will experience.
What if some resist? Or, worse, what if they see their energy-less neighbors as an opportunity for exploitation? Or revenge?
What if everybody sees the 'hierarchy' differently?
What if some see it to their advantage?
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